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January 29, 2009

Globe: Varitek May Reject Sox Offer

According to a baseball source, the deadline by which Varitek must accept or decline the Red Sox' latest contract offer is set for 8:30 a.m. Friday, leaving less than a day for the matter to play out. According to the same source, Varitek is seriously considering the option of sitting out the 2009 season and/or retiring rather than accepting the contract offer made to him last week. ...

Independent of the Varitek negotiations, the Sox are expected to revisit talks with the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks about respective deals for the switch-hitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the lefthanded-hitting Miguel Montero. ...

So Varitek would rather stay home in 2009 than accept the Sox's offer? At 37 years old -- and with his shitty 2008 season as his last on-field performance -- that would be de facto retirement.

This seems like nothing more than last-minute posturing from Boras -- the Red Sox may lose out on Tek for 2009 OMG!!! -- and it will fail. It's crystal clear that Boston will move on without blinking an eye. (SoSH TaLK)

Ok now Tek is my least favorite player ever. This is clowning around bullshit. From the captain no less. That is bullshit that they didn't know about the draft pick thing. They were trying to guilt the sox into re-offering. The sox naturally fell for it hard and now are about to get burnt the second time this off-season by the same asshole and his dick agent.

"I started my career here, and in my heart I've always wanted to end it here. The people in this city have treated me so well, so I'm proud to say that I'm going to end my career with the St. Paul Saints."

In other news, here's some official looking language regarding the free agent quota that the Yankees have no reached: "if there are from 39 to 62 [Type A and B] players [during a given offseason], no team can sign more than three."

"Yeah, the bottom line is, obviously, they want to go in a different direction. Now, what that means, I don't know. Are they going to win games this year? No. Obviously we know that going in. You've got to be realistic.

"I told Dave Trembley a month and a half ago, 'Listen, I'm 37 years old. I'm ready to make that transition and do whatever I can do to help the young guys. If that means playing against left-handers, coming off the bench, whatever.' I told him I'm ready to do whatever I need to do. They decided to go in a different direction, which is surprising to me. I'm not talking about this to sell myself. I'm low risk. I'm a one-year deal. I haven't been on the disabled list in awhile. I get along with everybody.

"To me, when a team says that, it's a little frustrating. I mean, what direction are the Orioles going in differently? If they sign Ty Wigginton tomorrow, or they were talking about Richie Sexson early on ... those guys are great players, too, but you have a guy who's already comfortable and knows the personnel inside, so what different direction would you go?

"It gets tough. We lose every night. The last eight weeks it was tough to keep a good attitude. It's tough to maintain that mental toughness and what happened, I struggled my butt off the last eight weeks and I was at fault for that and that left a bad taste in my mouth and in management's mouth. I understand that it's a big-boy world and I have to move on."

At the very least, I thought that was interesting. I'd like to see him sign with somebody this year.

Listen, I'm 37 years old. I'm ready to make that transition and do whatever I can do to help the young guys. If that means playing against left-handers, coming off the bench, whatever. I told him I'm ready to do whatever I need to do.

Globe: "Varitek today faces an 8:30 a.m. deadline to decide whether he will accept the team's latest (and last?) contract offer, though the team would likely allow the benefit of interpreting the deadline as 8:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, which translates into 11:30 a.m. on the East Coast."

SoSHer DJnVa: "That's awesome. Another 3 hours of this. If he signs I hope they tell him that each home game is at 7:30 PST as well."

Varitek hit .157 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs in 2008 (8-51) after hitting just .162 (12-74) in those situations in 2007, the 9th and 10th worst such seasons in Red Sox history (since ’74 at least). His .160 average over the last two seasons in those situations is the 2nd lowest in the majors (min. 100 AB) ...

In 2008, Varitek batted .119 against “fireballers” (pitchers who averaged more than one strikeout per inning), the second lowest such average in the majors ...

With the bases loaded, Varitek has just 125 RBI in 192 AB (0.651 RBI/AB), the lowest such RBI/AB average since they began tracking the stat in 1974 ...

Tek’s .607 OBP following a 3-0 count was the 3rd lowest in the AL last season ...

In “Close and Late” situations in 2008, Varitek went 10-64 (.156) with 9 singles and 1 HR (.203 SLG). That slugging percentage was the 2nd lowest in the AL last season ...

With 2 outs and 2 strikes in 2008, Varitek hit .111 (8-72) with 45 strikeouts, including strikeouts in 18 of his last 22 such AB ...

Ian Browne: "While reports surfaced that the deadline was 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, a Red Sox official said that was not the case, but that the club was hoping to have a resolution by the end of the day."

Globe: "Varitek will earn $5 million in 2009, with the club holding a $5 million option for 2010. If the Red Sox do not pick up that option, Varitek has the choice of remaining with the club on a $3 million deal. In '10, he can earn another $2 million in incentives based on playing time, beginning at 80 games started."

So if the team declines to exercise their option but end up using him anyway, he gets his $10m. The total range is $8m-12m.